We interrupt regular Grunge Queen programming so I can tell you about the wine tour I went on yesterday hosted by the LCBO!(Hey, it was for media so it was free, tee hee).
The goal: learn about Ontario wines.
We started having an informative tour at Norman Hardie winery - beautiful country, lovely wine and friendly host - and the lunch, made with veggies from the garden on site: amazing!
I highly recommend the County Chardonnay, unfiltered 2008 that will be coming to select LCBO stores in the Vintages section in November.
Next stop: Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., where we learned about five different cheeses the diary makes and the best wines to go with them.
Tip from Andrew, who led the tour: pair younger, softer cheeses with white wine, and older, hard cheeses with red wine.
Pretty easy peasy tip, that's what I love!
They served the wine in these logs to keep the cups from blowing away - so Canadian cool eh?It's only $12 to do a tasting like this, so easy on the pocketbook too.
Fifth Town is uber green, btw, with the only Leed certified green building, platinum level, outside of a couple government buildings in the province.
Last stop: the lovely Sandbanks Winery, where the equally charming proprietor and wine maker Catherine introduced us to her wines while we lounged on chairs on the outdoor tasting patio - brilliant!
Quite a bit of the Sandbanks wine is available at LCBO stores, and they're affordable.My fave: the Riesling 2008, drier than most Riesling and yummy.
Catherine's mother, an artist, designed the labels and the artwork that adorns some of the labels and the winery shop.
Love that homegrown feeling.
Great happy energy here. Visit it if you can.
What a beautiful outing. Once again, you've proven that you can live well without breaking the bank.
ReplyDeleteLove the logs!
Erin
P.S. Now I want to eat good cheese and drink Ontario wine!
Erin, forgot to mention the cheese from Fifth Town is available in our 'hood, at the Brickworks Saturday morning market - you gotta try the Lighthall Tomme cave-aged cheddar ... to die for!
ReplyDeleteWe also have these (wine fest) called here and they are fantastic. When we travel out of province we always try and visit the local wineries. The ground are also so peaceful to just walk around in.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great day.
The Witch, I just loving going to these places: the countryside is always so beautiful!
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